Michael Phelps and other Winter Olympics stars

Does anybody else wonder why Michael Phelps seems to be the main promotional tool for the Winter Olympics?

Phelps is a swimmer, and the last time I checked, swimming was a Summer Olympic event. Yet NBC has more promos featuring Phelps than all the winter athletes combined.

Those ads, of course, speak to the dearth of winter-sport stars. With no big names – Apolo Anton Ohno is basically the marquee draw -- NBC is trying to generate Phelps-like excitement for the Winter Games. The network is basically telling viewers that they can expect the same kind of inspirational performances out of Joe Speedskater and Suzy Skier as they saw from Phelps.

NBC is not alone. Subway has ads showing Phelps swimming to Vancouver. To do what, I have no idea (and someone should tell Phelps that his tiny Speedo won’t provide much protection from the cold). Then again, I prefer the Phelps’ ads to those of Subway’s other pitchmen, Jared and Michael Strahan.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the chance to talk to SCAD ad department chair Stephen Hall about the Phelps’ ads and more later this morning. Hall spent more than two decades designing and conceiving ads for the industry giants, and he’s agreed to sit down and talk about the latest trends in Super Bowl and Olympics advertising.

The Super Bowl and Olympics attract approximately 100 million viewers each, so expect advertisers to go all out. I’m just hoping Hall can tell me the ads to come make more sense than the Phelps promos.

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I agree. Michael Phelps is certainly a big star from the last Olympics, but his connection to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver is questionable. An example of successful Olympic advertising is Visa's Dan Jansen commercial. I like the story, and the way it captures the true human drama of the Olympics. And of course, Morgan Freeman's voice helps make it powerfully emotional. That's what advertising for big sports events should be like.

... I loved watching Michael Phelps two years ago. He is the best thing to happen to the Olympics since the original Dream Team. But I think it's kind of goofy for NBC to use him to promote an event in which he's not competing. Would ABC use the Daytona 500 winner to promote the Indy 500? Would NBC tease its coverage of the U.S. Women's Open with footage of Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines a few years back? I think not.

If they decided Phelps will help them promote Winter Olympics, why not? It is not written anywhere that a swimmer cannot advertise winter games, when I was wondering on the streets of Vancouver searching for guns for sale I saw this ad and thought maybe we will see other great performances. I admit it is a little strange to see a swimmer on winter Olympics ads, but a lot of people know Phelps and will watch Winter Olympics to see possible great performances made by Joe Speedskater or Suzy Skier.